'Mad cow' disease confirmed on farm in Wales

An investigation has been launched after a case of "mad cow disease" was identified in a dead cow on a farm in Wales.

Authorities were quick to announce that there was no risk to human health, as it was an isolated case and the animal had not entered the human food chain.

"Identification of this case demonstrates that the controls we have in place are working well," said Rebecca Evans, Deputy Minister for Farming and Food.

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Investigators will now try and determine what caused the infection. Any cows the animal came into contact with, plus any offspring, will be traced and destroyed, reports The Guardian.

Despite government reassurances, opposition politicians warned that this would be a blow to the regional beef industry and called on the Welsh government to make sure farmers were supported.

"This is, of course, very disappointing news," said William Powell, Welsh Liberal Democrat shadow farming minister and assembly member for Mid and West Wales.

"However, I can't emphasise enough that we have immensely robust control measures in place to detect and prevent any infected produce from entering the food chain," he said.

Mad cow disease, officially known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), caused national panic in the late 1980s and early 1990s when it was linked to a deadly disease that causes brain damage in humans. At least 170 people have died from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and millions of animals were slaughtered.